SALE AND DELIVERY (or INTENT TO SELL OR DELIVER) / TRAFFICKING

Our government is creative when it comes to allegations of Sale and Delivery of a drug (or controlled substance, as the statutes call it). Typically, these allegations come in two flavors. First, the undercover, confidential source sets up a deal and someone is arrested for Sale & Delivery. Or, second, a possession case is charged as "With Intent to Sell or Deliver" because the packaging of the drug is allegedly consistent with that of a drug dealer.

It's common knowledge that our government is allowed to "break the law" by buying and selling illegal drugs. The government does it every day, in the hopes of arresting a citizen for Sale and Delivery of a Controlled Substance. Sometimes, the government sets up a drug deal with the help of CI's (Confidential Informants) or CS's (Confidential Sources). Typically, a CI gets arrested on serious charges and agrees to provide "substantial assistance" to the government in exchange for a lighter sentence. Thus, the star witness for the government has a major incentive to "create" a case, and this can lead to all sorts of legal problems for the government's case, including entrapment.

Simple drug possession charges can be enhanced through an accusation of "intent to sell or deliver". Don't let the language fool you, the government doesn't necessarily have any hard evidence that the person is a "drug dealer", but rather law enforcement enhances simple drug possessions to "with intent" where they deem the packaging of the drugs found to be beyond that of personal use. There is no clear cut rule on this, though the more baggies and cash found, the more likely a "with intent" charge will stick. We see this frequently on Possession of Cannabis cases. A single baggie of 12 grams of cannabis is only a misdemeanor (actually, possession of cannabis under 20 grams is a misdemeanor), yet an officer may elect to enhance the crime charged to a felony "Possession of Cannabis with Intent to Sell or Deliver" when that same 12 grams of cannabis is divided up into twelve individual baggies.

Another enhancement to a simple drug possession charge is known as "Trafficking". Trafficking in a controlled substance simply means that you were found to have a large amount of a drug. The weight (measured in grams) required to make a possession a "trafficking" charge varies, depending on the substance. For example, it takes very little Oxycontin to reach the trafficking threshold, because most Florida courts have held that the weight of the entire pill can be used to reach the trafficking requirement, even though the Oxycontin pill may only contain 5-15% of the actual illegal substance, with the remaining 85%+ of the pill simply containing a legal filler substance such as acetominphine.

Our criminal attorney has been handling drug charges since 1993. Let our experience go to work for you. Give criminal attorney John Guidry a call anytime, for a free confidential consultation. We have reasonable fees, and payment plans are available.

Charged with S & D? Trafficking? With Intent? Call us at 407.423.1117.

Aggressive, quality representation since 1993